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Going virtual to support essential workers and post-secondary students
In mid-March, as the world was grinding to a halt, the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s (MHCC’s) Opening Minds team knew it was time to get busy.
“Our face-to-face training had come to a standstill literally overnight,” explained Mike Pietrus, the director of the program, which is the MHCC’s training arm. “But we also knew we had mental health and resiliency training that needed to get into the hands of essential workers.”
And that’s exactly what the team pulled together to do.
“As they were adjusting to a global pandemic, working remotely and caring for their own families, they completely overhauled the training so it could be delivered virtually and at no cost to the people on the front lines of the crisis,” said Pietrus.
Louise Bradley, the MHCC’s president and CEO, remains in awe of the response. “I would have to describe this undertaking as nothing short of heroic,” she said, noting that over 400 free courses have been delivered to more than 4,000 essential workers.
The MHCC’s learning specialists took the most relevant components of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and The Working Mind (TWM), and compressed each into two-hour, interactive sessions to teach people how to look after their mental health and how to care for others. An additional one-hour course was created specifically to help managers care for their teams.
Pietrus noted that the experience required the team to do its homework and learn about virtual best practices. “But in mounting this incredible response, we are now poised and ready to begin rolling out our most-loved training courses virtually,” he said, referring to the training suite that includes MHFA and TWM and its variations.
“Our first offering,” he explained, “is going to be The Inquiring Mind Post-Secondary,” which provides mental health and resiliency training for college and university students. “We figured they were a natural first choice. Not only do they tend to be more comfortable with virtual interaction, they’ll also soon be coping with a tremendously different academic environment and need support to navigate a range of new challenges.”
Beginning in August, post-secondary institutions will be able to offer the training, which has also been overhauled in a big way.
“We learned a lot from preparing our free crisis training courses,” said Rebecca Richardson, learning specialist with MHFA and Opening Minds. “You can’t just take the face-to-face format and deliver it online. It doesn’t translate. We had to really do our research and bone up on how to make sure we were effectively engaging with participants.”
That engagement included expanding the course to four 45-minute modules or a single three-hour course. Small groups will have the opportunity to brainstorm solutions for challenging situations, seek participants’ opinions through online polls and quizzes, and ensure that any who feel triggered by the material are connected to mental health supports.
“We needed to find a way to manage all these moving pieces,” said Pietrus, and that turned out to be creating a new role in the virtual classroom to support the facilitator. “We engage producers to handle the technical aspects of delivering the course, so the instructor could zero in on the material.”
The result of the pilot testing, at Bishop’s University and Laurentian University, speaks for itself.
“Over 82 per cent of course participants were confident they could apply the knowledge and skills they learned when they were in everyday situations,” said Richardson. “After observing both pilots, I was encouraged and inspired by the students’ energy and passion and their willingness to discuss challenging topics — even in a virtual setting.”
Bishop’s student Chloe Kendall said she found “the course extremely insightful. It helped me understand my own mental health and gain awareness of how other people might be feeling. The knowledge I gained in two days will last me a lifetime.”
Richardson is convinced that this willingness to embrace vulnerability and seek support will be essential for fostering mental wellness as students return to school this fall.
“Many will be looking for strategies to cope with the stresses of remote learning and social isolation, as well as ways to discuss and make sense of their experiences over the last few months. Moving The Inquiring Mind course to a virtual format in time for the autumn semester will help post-secondary institutions support students through these challenges.”
Visit TWM’s Inquiring Mind Post-Secondary Virtual page to find out where courses are being offered.
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Fredericton MP reflects on a first term like no other
It’s not easy keeping up with Jenica Atwin, a first-term Green Party of Canada member of Parliament from the riding of Fredericton. Her topics of interest are wide ranging, the examples she draws on are rich, and she talks quickly — as though trying to make sure nothing important gets overlooked.
“I’m part of a seniors action group,” she explained, during a phone interview from her home in late May. “I hear about elderly people calling the Canada Revenue Agency or Service Canada, just to make a connection with a human voice. It’s heartbreaking.”
Atwin’s empathy is palpable. Herself a young mom of two who found her earliest days of postpartum isolating, she is keenly aware that COVID-19 is highlighting disparities the Green party has long been “shouting from the rooftops.”
“Right now, people may be in a very dark place,” she said. “With racial inequities coming to the fore, the virus hitting the socially and economically disadvantaged harder, and a lack of available mental health care, it’s easy to understand how people could become despondent and depressed.”
But Atwin believes salvation can emerge from the strength of community. “Resiliency isn’t so much about ‘How can I dig deep and find the strength?’” she explained. “It’s more about ‘Where can I turn to get supports, how can I draw on my networks, and what can I do to help others?’”
She comes by this sense of community honestly, having grown up in a home where her stepfather’s First Nations culture held up these values. “I live near Oromocto First Nation, where my husband is on the band council, and if I’ve drawn hope or inspiration during this time, it’s been from their response.”
Atwin describes the sewing circles turning their talents to mask making, the hampers being filled with daily necessities for delivery to the vulnerable or elderly, and, reverently, Oromocto’s female Chief Shelley Sabattis, who has led the community’s effective and compassionate response.
“Female leadership is where it’s at these days,” said Atwin. “Look at Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand and Angela Merkel in Germany. We’re seeing how women lead a little bit differently, how their sensibility allows them to rise during these really challenging times.”
There are plenty of examples of female leadership here at home, including some of the most senior provincial public health officials and Canada’s top doctor, Theresa Tam.
Atwin is equally pleased with Canada’s response. “Look, I think we’ve done a great job. We’ve pulled together. Across political stripes we’re seeing the commonalities we share, more so than the ideologies we differ on. That doesn’t mean we’re perfect. And my job, as part of the opposition voice, is to make sure we point out where the gaps are. But overall, I think we should be really proud as Canadians of the leadership we’re seeing from all corners.”
Atwin adds that the mental and physical health of family, friends, colleagues, and community members is top of mind these days. “I’d love to see a ministerial position focused on our collective well-being,” she said. “Momentum is growing around the idea that if people are doing well, emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally, they will be best able to fulfill all their roles from family responsibilities to work deliverables.”
When asked how she keeps so calm and collected in the face of a relentless schedule, she laughed. “It’s not easy. But it’s the really simple things. It’s having a quiet cup of tea for five minutes in the morning, and it’s lighting sage and taking a few deep, cleansing breaths to start the day. There’s no magic bullet. I just find a moment to centre myself, and then I try to get on with the work.”
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Supporting the mental health of health-care workers during COVID-19
“Health-care workers have always been heroes in my eyes,” said Louise Bradley, president and CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), herself a registered nurse and former hospital administrator. “But when a once-in-a-generation crisis like COVID-19 arises, we ask even more of an already overextended workforce.”
Ed Mantler, the MHCC’s vice-president of Programs and Priorities, agrees. “Pre-pandemic, 40 per cent of physicians and nurses were experiencing advanced stages of burnout. So we were already working hard to create a suite of training modules and resources to bolster the mental wellness of this critical workforce.”
Now, those tools are more relevant and important than ever.
“We know that the psychological toll of a pandemic can have serious consequences for health-care workers,” affirmed Bradley, who pointed to one study estimating that between 29 and 35 per cent of these workers experienced a high degree of distress during the SARS outbreak in a Toronto hospital. A similar survey of medical staff in Taiwan found that 93.5 per cent considered the SARS outbreak a traumatic experience.
Fortunately, health-care workers do not have to face the burden alone. A variety of mental health resources are now available to bolster their resiliency and improve their well-being.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, for example, offers a resource hub specifically for those working in health care during COVID-19, which features helpful advice, videos, and links to external supports.
The MHCC has spent many years developing various mental health resources in health care, including a recent webinar series exploring self-care for workers and advice for leaders during COVID-19.
“It’s important to recognize that health care has always been a demanding field, and that many of the mental health challenges workers are now facing will not disappear once the pandemic is over,” said Bradley. She urged health-care organizations to use proactive education measures for staff, such as posters like this to remind workers how they can manage anxiety and substance use.
For Mantler, “While resources for individual providers are important, enhancing mental wellness is also a matter of shifting a culture where stoicism has been the norm for far too long.”
Often, the first step toward improvement is assessment. Caring for Healthcare Workers — Assessment Tools is a helpful resource for doing so. It looks at a variety of psychosocial factors to help health-care organizations identify areas of vulnerability and take steps to improve psychological health and safety.
Creating a culture of mental wellness also takes commitment. A great way to understand what an organization is doing well and where there is room for improvement is through the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard), a framework that provides comprehensive guidelines to promote positive mental health in the workplace.
“I was hired to run a large teaching hospital many years ago,” Bradley recalled. “At first I felt my skill set wasn’t aligned with the role. But I soon learned I wasn’t there to tell medical experts how to do their jobs. I was brought in to change the culture they worked in.”
To help guide the implementation of the Standard in health-care settings, the MHCC co-developed the Caring for Healthcare Toolkit, which includes real-world accounts of health-care organizations adopting the Standard and nearly 40 practical tools to assist with that process.
For more on the MHCC’s health-care tools and resources, see our complete list.
For Bradley, the work to support health-care workers began long before COVID-19, and it will continue long after. “When the masks come off and the world re-opens, health-care workers will still be heroes, and they will still deserve our support.”
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MP Don Davies on essential services, mental health care, and how we work
Don Davies, NDP health critic and member of Parliament for Vancouver-Kingsway, has long known the value of essential workers.
“My youngest daughter is 25, and she has diverse needs,” he explained, from his home in Vancouver where he’s been working remotely since the onset of COVID-19. “She works at the local grocery store, and nothing was going to stop her from doing her duty — not even a pandemic.”
Davies said that while the decision to continue working was entirely hers, as a parent he felt a natural unease. “We went over the risks, of course, but her job is extremely important to her. She thrives on routine and likes the social aspect. But more than that, she’s proud of her contribution, and that really gives her a sense of self-worth.”
Yet, as Davies is quick to point out, as a society we’ve devalued the contribution of essential work for far too long. “Whether it’s support workers in long-term care homes, food delivery people, or grocery store clerks like my daughter, as a collective, we’ve taken them for granted. I hope that a silver lining from COVID-19 will be the realization that these jobs are the opposite of menial. They are, without doubt, the most important.”
As far as Davies is concerned, this is just one of the many truths COVID-19 has revealed for us.
“The irony isn’t lost on me that it’s taken a physical health threat to expose the lack of affordable mental health care in this country. We are rightly proud of our doctor and hospital coverage. But now we have an opportunity to ask ourselves, Have we been operating in a stagnant 20th century system of care? Is this the moment in history to reimagine something that will serve us better over the next 100 years?”
Davies is confident that this shift in our mindset can go further than health care. He sees the shake-up born from the pandemic as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to challenge outmoded thinking across the board.
“Take workplaces, for example,” he said. “For so long many traditional sectors have resisted being more accommodating or offering work-from-home arrangements. Yet we’re seeing that people are often more productive with the added time and flexibility that comes from working at home. Of course, that’s not to downplay the reality of coping with double-duty for those with kids. But more generally speaking, I think this pandemic could revolutionize how and where we work.”
Davies has long been an advocate of the mental health benefits of a four-day work week and is convinced that progressive policies have the opposite effect than what many fear.
“The work we do shouldn’t be measured by how many hours we’re chained to a desk. It should be tied to outcomes. The more inspired you are to do your work, the quicker you’ll complete it, and the better it will be.”
Davies points to the rapid and innovative response to create virtual mental health services as an example of where inspiration and productivity have converged to make lightning-speed progress.
“We’re seeing a willingness, across jurisdictions, to jump in with both feet. We are seeing accomplishments take shape in weeks, versus the months or years that we’ve gotten used to.”
Overall, Davies is tremendously optimistic. That’s not to say he doesn’t acknowledge the very real concerns he has about re-opening the economy and how much we still have to learn about COVID-19.
“But if COVID has exposed our flaws for all to see — our lack of respect for essential workers, our patchwork of mental health services, our archaic attitude toward how we work — then it has also given us the extraordinary gift of opportunity.”
As he points out, you can’t fix problems if you refuse to see them.
“Let’s see what we can do with our eyes wide open.”
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Understanding re-entry anxiety with Dr. Keith Dobson
The coronavirus pandemic has introduced a long list of reasons to feel anxious. For months the country has been in virtual lockdown, with physical distance separating us from each other and turning the world as we knew it on its head. Now, as the country begins to reopen, new concerns are emerging, and return or re-entry anxiety is setting in for many.
“I think there are going to be two main types of reactions,” said Dr. Keith Dobson, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Calgary. “One will be the ongoing stresses and anxiety associated with COVID-19. These include renegotiating social norms to ensure safe distancing, deciding when it is safe to send children to school, and coping with fears of possible new waves or outbreaks of infection.”
While concerns over physical health and safety are plentiful and can cause strong stress reactions, there are a host of other, more individual stressors as well. “The second big issue,” said Dobson, “is facing the reality of the personal and economic losses associated with the pandemic.” For some, this will mean venturing out into a job market they weren’t prepared to explore. For others, anxiety could come from losing some of the benefits of quarantine, such as remote work and more free time.
One thing is certain — re-opening the country doesn’t mean the same thing for everyone. As we begin to see more restrictions lifted, it will be important to recognize that what feels positive for one person might feel like a setback for someone else.
According to Dobson, a good example of this disparity occurs in the feelings toward increased social freedom. “For many people, increased social interaction will help ease the anxiety of the readjustment period. But for those who fear social situations to begin with, like someone with social anxiety disorder or a heightened concern about contamination from others, the additional social interaction will increase anxiety.”
Acknowledging the wide-ranging responses to a gradual re-opening is especially important for employers that are considering the transition back to an office environment. For Louise Bradley, president and CEO of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, that balancing act has been top of mind. “The most important thing we can do for our staff is to listen,” she said. “We’ve conducted surveys and one-to-one interviews to try to establish what’s working for people, where more accommodations are required, and what appetite there is, if any, for a return to the office.”
Bradley is quick to point out that, for a lot of knowledge organizations, remote work is proving effective, albeit imperfect. “The proof is in the pudding, to put it plainly. We’ve demonstrated a remarkable ability to flex and adapt, and be as productive as ever. But we can’t assume that what’s working for one person is working for the next. Communication has to be very thoughtful and deliberate right now — that alone can help reduce stress and clarify expectations.”
There are also things we can do as individuals to help curb return anxiety, explained Dobson. “The single best evidence-based treatment for anxiety is exposure, which involves slowly confronting the thing or situation you’re afraid of. Gradual exposure allows you to readjust your appraisal of the risk associated with the fear, slowly reducing anxiety over time.”
While we don’t want to expose ourselves to the virus itself, slowly and safely confronting the uncomfortable elements of re-entry, such as social interactions or spending time in public, can help reduce the overall anxiety toward a post-lockdown reality.
Another important part of offsetting return anxiety is continuing to follow the advice of health authorities. As Dobson put it, “We need to also learn to take appropriate risks again. It’s important that people do not continue to use COVID-19 as a reason to avoid things health authorities have deemed low-risk.” Take comfort in knowing that by adhering to public health guidelines, you’re following the best available advice to ease back into the world safely.
To safeguard our mental health during this transition, we must also remember to temper our expectations. Things will look different for a while — there’s no way around it. To avoid disappointment or feeling overwhelmed, plan ahead whenever possible. Discuss the boundaries of social gatherings with loved ones, find out what safety measures to expect at work and in public, and anticipate some discomfort.
Anxiety may be familiar to some of us, but this transition is new for all of us.
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Louise Bradley in conversation with Minister of Health Patty Hajdu
On May 20, I sat down for a candid, wide-ranging virtual discussion with Health Minister Patty Hajdu. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has become a familiar face in living rooms across the country as she faithfully provides daily briefings to keep the people in Canada up to date on the tireless public health response mounted by the federal government.
It’s fitting, then, that our meeting began just as fire alarm testing in her building got underway. Apologetic and with wry wit, the minister admitted that working from home isn’t the idyll we’d all imagined.
As the siren wails periodically, I’m reminded that she has been answering the call of a national emergency without respite since January 15. I wanted to know what that experience has been like for her, not only as a politician, but also as a person.
I begin by asking her how she’s doing. Her frank response mirrors a reality many of us can relate to. “Honestly, it depends on the day. And I think it’s so important to normalize feelings of fear, frustration, anger, and anxiety. Those feeling aren’t exclusive to a pandemic either. We’re liable to experience them just about any time. But right now, of course, everything is heightened.”
Not only has Hajdu worked with vulnerable populations as the head of a shelter in Thunder Bay, she’s also walked the lonely road of single parenting and knows that half the battle of accessing care, when your own resources are about to run dry, is just getting there.
“I used to have to haul my kids out of school and disrupt my own work to get our family the counselling it needed,” she explained. “Virtual care hurdles so many of these barriers, and it also guards against people feeling their privacy might be compromised. As someone who has lived in a rural community, I know how hard it can be to get professional advice from someone you haven’t seen at the hockey rink or run into at the school.”
“We’re really striving to let people know this care is available,” said Hajdu. “When I hear about communities pooling their funding to raise money to access psychotherapies, I wish there was more we could do to alert people that we’ve got an entire toolbox at their disposal.”
But the minister is quick to point out additional resources aren’t a panacea. “I think the pandemic has revealed, broadly speaking, what those of us toiling in the annals of mental health have known for a very long time. If you don’t have the basic dignity of a house to live in, if you don’t have a job from which you derive self-worth, and if you aren’t connected to community, all the tools in the world aren’t going to fix your problems.”
An impassioned advocate for the most vulnerable, Hajdu became visibly distressed at the suggestion that counselling can be of service to those whose basic needs are not being met.
Content Warning: sexual abuse
“I’m going to go out on a limb here,” she said, clearly speaking as someone who has seen the gritty reality of homelessness. “It’s bordering on unethical to offer counselling to a woman being raped at a shelter she’s got no choice but to stay at. We need to get her out of that environment and get her safe. Then we can talk about dealing with her trauma.”
Hajdu’s authenticity is palpable, even through Zoom. And I’m not alone in feeling it. When I ask her what has given her hope during these difficult times, she doesn’t hesitate.
“You know, I have hard days. Days when I miss my spouse and my kids. Days when, like everyone else, I am just craving that human connection,” she said, explaining that the demands of her job have upended her routine, keeping her in the nation’s capital for weeks on end and preventing her from seeing her family in Thunder Bay. “But then I get an email from someone who tells me I’m doing a good job.” Here, her eyes shine, and I don’t think it’s from the screen’s glare, though I can’t be sure.
“When someone reaches out, despite whatever it is they may be dealing with, and offers me kind words of encouragement, I’m reminded that, while it might be harder to do right now, being kind is just the essence of what is going to get us through this. We might be a little tattered and torn, but it’s the connection, the sense of community we have as a country, that’s going to be our saving grace.”
Speaking of community, Hajdu reflects on the efforts of an organization in her hometown that successfully pivoted from its gardening program for at-risk youth to creating a lunch program for kids without access to school meals.
“They didn’t know if they were going to have funding for this. They just mobilized volunteers and stepped into the breach. It’s inspiring.”
One could argue that Hajdu herself has done much the same. “I was never prepared for this,” she admitted. “And we’re learning as we go. But I think we’re learning some really important things. We’re learning how to innovate faster. We’re learning how to work better together across jurisdictions and across party lines. And we’re learning that we’re all maybe a lot stronger than we thought we were.”
I end by asking the minster to describe her experience at the helm of what is arguably the most important and challenging portfolio in all of government . . . in three words.
She pauses. But, as ever, rises to the challenge. “Today, I would say intense, inspiring, and optimistic. Intense, I think is obvious. Inspiring because we’ve pulled together, and optimistic because I believe we are resilient enough to emerge from this not just different, but better.”
The fire alarm is still sounding when we finish our call, reminding me that the minister’s job is far from over.
If you are in distress, please contact your nearest distress centre or rape crisis centre. If it is an emergency, call 9-1-1 or go to your local emergency department.
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Hone the skill of self-compassion during COVID-19
COVID-19 has shaken our world like a child’s snow globe. And it’s hard to find our true north when we’ve been pushed outside our comfort zone while a blizzard rages with no end in sight.
We are facing each day with a cloud of uncertainty, and anxiety is threatening to douse whatever plans we’ve marshalled in to service this unpredictable “new normal.” My advice to everyone right now is to put aside your previous expectations, to discard old ways of knowing and doing, and embrace the present with a compassionate and forgiving heart.
One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned, over many decades of trying and failing, is that we need to show ourselves empathy first, before we can turn outward and share it.
This may sound simple, but it isn’t easy.
I’m on the board of directors for The Gathering Place shelter in St. John’s, N.L. I’m regularly in touch with their leadership, and my heart aches for the challenges they are facing. They serve the most vulnerable. The gold-hearted sisters and exceptionally committed staff who run the organization are struggling to keep their doors open and meet the needs of people who are experiencing food and housing insecurity, many of them living with serious mental illness or severe addictions.
Every now and then, after a long day of work and an utter lack of human contact, I’ll have a moment of sadness, a flicker of grief for the normalcy we all crave. Then a fleeting thought will assert itself, Who am I to complain when others are without the most basic human needs?
But there’s a problem with this pattern. To deny our losses and repudiate our own challenges because someone else’s are greater isn’t high-minded. Of course, keeping perspective is helpful. But failing to acknowledge our own hurts isn’t altruistic.
It’s quite the opposite.
At this time in our lives, ranking our suffering is the last thing we should be doing. We must own our sadness and give ourselves the space and time to feel the many losses, big or small, we are facing each day. That someone else is hurting more is cold comfort. Ironically, discrediting our own feelings can actually harden our hearts to the hurt others are feeling.
If you find yourself easily irritated, unable to sleep, having difficulty focusing or experiencing bone-deep tiredness, your body is sending you a signal. Grief is a shape-shifter. And make no mistake, we’re all experiencing a form of it right now, whether we name it or not.
It’s easy slip into negative self-talk when we snap at a loved one, let the laundry pile up, and fail to meet our post-COVID standards. We need to expect, accept, and embrace the fact that our energy for conventional pursuits is being sapped as our brains process a reality that’s changing at lightning speed. If homeschool is a flop, dinner is a bag of chips, and getting dressed is wearing your good sweatpants, so be it. If the bar is higher at your house . . . good for you, but don’t flaunt it.
It would serve us well to remember that grief is grief, loss is loss, and sadness is sadness. Our empathy is only finite if we deny it to ourselves.
If you want to learn a new skill during the COVID-19 pandemic, the best one I can suggest is self-compassion. Take this time of global trauma, and use it as a tool to blunt the edges of your self-criticism and quiet your internal monologue of inadequacy. Treat your perceived failings as stepping-stones toward the kind of personal growth that doesn’t come from reviving a hobby, but instead from doing the hard work of practising self-love ꟷ not in spite of the imperfections but because of them.
Last night, I let myself mourn all the people and things I miss. I sat with my sadness and grief and named all my losses. Often this opens the floodgates to past hurts and traumas, and we can feel like we’re bowing under the weight of the world. But what’s so interesting to me, and so indicative of the human spirit’s resilience, is something researchers have found: that just 90 seconds of actively feeling our emotions is often enough to rebalance our equilibrium.
Feeling sorry for yourself has gotten a bad rap. Go ahead. Give yourself the OK to feel sorry. You might just find it was the most productive thing you did today.
This morning, I woke up feeling refreshed, reinvigorated, and ready to help.
Showing ourselves kindness, being tender with our bruised and battered selves as we navigate these unchartered waters, is the best way to open our hearts and minds in service to the needs of others.
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Understanding the psychological toll of job loss during COVID-19
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on employment in Canada and abroad. To date, nearly six million people in this country have applied for government emergency benefits to offset their financial burden. That’s almost equivalent to the entire population in the Greater Toronto Area.
But financial support isn’t enough to fill the void left by unemployment.
Just ask Elizabeth Fulton, a professional photographer who built a thriving business single-handedly over the last decade. “I chose this profession partly because it allowed me to better balance caring for my kids and pursuing a career. But I stuck with it because of the relationships I built with my clients. They have become, in many ways, like my extended family,” she said.
“I meet their babies at just a few days old; I watch them grow up. So when my business came to a halt, virtually overnight, I didn’t just lose my income. I lost the shape to my day, and I lost the constant contact and feedback from clients. In a way, I suppose it feels a bit like I’ve misplaced my identity,” she explained. “I wouldn’t say it’s lost. It just feels out of reach right now.”
It’s no surprise then, that job loss has been linked to depression, anxiety, and even thoughts of suicide. But by addressing the psychological effects of unemployment, we can help mitigate the mental health consequences and turn hardship into resiliency.
Bill Howatt, the chief of research for workforce productivity at the Conference Board of Canada, says that COVID-19 has added layers of complication to a job loss. “For those who’ve lost their job in the hospitality sector, the formula for finding a new job has changed. They can’t dust off their resume and walk down the street to the nearest restaurant and ply their trade again. As for professionals like dentists and chiropractors, they have the compounded stress of overhead, like rent and employee salaries, when no revenue is coming in. It can all feel very hopeless.”
Following any major loss, it’s natural to experience grief. Losing a job is no different. Many people derive their sense of purpose from their work, and to lose that can have a profound impact on mental well-being.
In addition to providing a raison d’être, a person’s job is often deeply intertwined with their identity. One of the first questions we ask when getting to know someone is, “What do you do?” When the answer to that question disappears overnight, feelings of aimlessness can quickly set in.
“I tell people the most important thing to do, right off the bat in this situation, is to plan out your day as best you can. Get up, get dressed, get a routine going and try to follow it daily,” said Howatt, who notes that owning the things you can control is a good way to feel more empowered.
Fulton agrees with that idea. “Routine is huge for me. I’m eating healthy foods, I’m exercising daily, and I’m trying to come up with creative ways to engage with my clients.”
For Howatt, what Fulton is subconsciously doing is something he offers formal training in: mental fitness. “Not only is taking care of your physical health important, but planning for post-COVID is key. If people can look at this situation and say, ‘How can I emerge stronger, more prepared to work, with better relationships?,’ it gives a sense of hope and a sense of purpose.”
He also advises that people practise something called cognitive reframing. “Ask yourself, ‘What’s the worst-case scenario?’ Play that out. Let yourself really walk that path. Then ask yourself what the best-case scenario is. Sometimes our brain gets stuck on a wave of negative thinking, and we’ve got to play a little trick on it so we can get out from under the deluge.”
If you want to support someone who’s recently lost their job but aren’t sure how, the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s (MHCC’s) Active Listening Guide can help you engage with more confidence. Sometimes, the fear of saying the wrong thing keeps us from saying anything at all. But it’s important to remember that the person who’s just lost their job may feel uncomfortable or unsure about how to ask for support. Reach out and tell them you’re available to listen, and remind them that their value isn’t determined by their employment status.
If you have recently lost your job, the MHCC has tools that can help you assess your mental health and begin charting a course to improve it. The Working Mind program has created a COVID-19 Self-Care and Resilience Guide. You can use the guide to gauge where you fall on the mental health continuum and incorporate self-care into your coping strategies.
For additional resources, the federal government has launched Wellness Together Canada, a portal designed to connect people in Canada with the mental health and substance use support they need.
It’s also important to remember that, while losing a job can be an isolating experience, you aren’t alone. Reach out to people around you, whether it’s former co-workers grappling with the same loss or trusted friends and family you can count on for support. Verbalizing your thoughts and feelings can also help you process them and feel more in control of the situation.
“I’m trying to be kind to myself right now,” said Fulton. “But I do try to think of one thing to do, every day, that’s related to my work. Whether that’s reaching out to a client to say hello or making a post on social media offering free advice on how to take better pictures at home, I’ve got to find ways to stay connected and feel useful.”
Howatt said she’s on the right track. “This is going to be a mental marathon, but taking smalls steps every day can add up to big rewards when we emerge from this. And make no mistake, we will.”
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How two MPs are serving constituents in the era of COVID‑19
If there’s any job that relies on the power of interpersonal connection, it’s being a member of Parliament. Just ask Matt Jeneroux, longtime mental health advocate and MP for Edmonton Riverbend.
In a phone interview from his home, he said that just like everyone else in Alberta and Canada, he’s learning how to succeed in this new context. In his case, it’s about figuring out the best ways to support his constituents.
“If you’d told me a month ago I’d be advertising for local businesses, I wouldn’t have believed you,” he laughed. Jeneroux also happens to be working remotely while co-parenting a new addition to his family. “The baby is two months old; I’m trying my best to work from home. I’m using social media like never before . . . and in some ways I feel like, as we struggle to find our collective footing, we are also discovering common ground like never before.”
In fact, Jeneroux acknowledged that COVID-19 has resulted in some unexpected silver linings. “I’m working with my counterpart (NDP health critic Don Davies) literally every day. We all want the same things: we want our health-care workers to have the protective equipment they need, we want to support people who’ve lost their jobs, and we want to make sure the most vulnerable among us don’t fall through the cracks.”
During the current physical distancing, Jeneroux admits that much of the pre‑COVID‑19 partisanship has been replaced by partnership. “At virtual committee meetings,” he said, “you see your colleagues in their homes, you’re invited into their personal space. Seeing their photographs, books, and mementos puts a human face on everyone.”
But even while conceding that there are silver linings, like the joke tree he sees on his morning walk, designed to make passersby smile, he spends a lot of time worrying about how people in his riding are really doing.
“I lose sleep, if I’m honest. I worry about the guy who has lost his job, lost all his coping mechanisms, and is struggling with anger. I worry about people who, like my 95-year-old grandfather, don’t know how to use technology to stay in touch or get the most up-to-date information. I worry about new moms, obviously, my wife having given birth in early February.”
Jeneroux isn’t the only MP who has found himself thrust into a new reality. Lloyd Longfield, who represents Guelph, equates the situation to building a plane while flying it.
“There are so many layers to this,” he said, his voice clearly strained from non-stop calls while working from home. “At first, it was just, how do we cope, how do we make sure people have food on the table, get some financial supports out the door. Now, I’m playing a coordination role ꟷ working with local businesses to keep the supply chain moving or with those who have switched to the production of protective gear.”
Longfield admitted that navigating new technology while doing policy work has been challenging. “Zoom, FaceTime ꟷ it was all new, and it was a bit intimidating at first. But I’m realizing that with these new technologies, we’ve got to be more present. You can’t check e-mails on a video call. And maybe that’s something that will stick with us when we move through this: being more intentional about how we communicate.”
He also pointed out that he should take his own advice when it comes to protecting his mental health. “I urge people to reduce their news consumption. I think that’s really important. I also encourage people to focus only on those things they can control. To worry about what other countries are doing is as futile as worrying about what our neighbours are doing. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be a good global citizen, but doing that work starts in our own backyards.”
While Longfield still has a sizable list of worries, including how to responsibly reopen the economy while protecting the needs of health-care workers, he’s also been buoyed by the way people in Canada have come together.
“From entrepreneurial businesses honing made-in-Canada solutions to interprovincial collaboration and our government’s Wellness Together Canada mental health portal, I am so proud of our response to this challenge as a country. We’re making strides to become more self-reliant and compassionate. Every Canadian should consider that an achievement to be proud of.”
Longfield ended the call by saying he’s got to save his voice for a Facebook event that evening.
“I want to be sure I am comfortable with the technology and really ready to bring my A-game because I’m facing a tough crowd.”
Longfield wasn’t referring to virtual Parliament. That evening, he was going to be reading a bedtime story to neighbourhood kids. “We’re all learning how to be more present with one another. And when my grandkids reflect on this, I hope that’s what they’ll remember. That the adults in their lives were there, present, with them. It’s what really counts.”